Ka Faroshi bird market, Kabul
Intense sounds of birds and people inside Kabul's famous Ka Faroshi bird market, people doing their business as usual, post 45 years of traumatic war. This recording is part of the HEYR project, presenting 3-dimensional soundscapes from special locations, connected to special events. Find out more by visiting https://www.heyr.no Recorded by Anders Vinjar, 2025.
10m Jun 07, 2025
10m
Yamanashi bus stop
"I know I’m not alone in having many experiences of waiting for the bus. Sometimes anxiety-ridden and isolating, other times sweetened by the company of friends or a loved one. Either way, the bus brings to mind nostalgia, impermanence, and above all, connection. "My memories of waiting at the bus stop layer like patches in this track, tiny dots weaving through various recollections. A mental ...
5m Jun 07, 2025
5m
Children awaiting the school bus
Autumn of 2024. An hour before sunset. In front of Kofu Station, the capital of Yamanashi-ken, Japan, a group of elementary school students (shougakusei) waited for the bus that would take them back home. Recorded by Gus - On Collector.
4m Jun 07, 2025
4m
Kailaya Vathiyam in Shivan Temple
In this recording, you can hear Kailaya Vathiyam in Shivan Temple. People are crowding into the temple, and you can feel the Tamil Nadu temple ambience. Recorded by Gopinath Sound Engineering.
36m Jun 06, 2025
36m
Kailash
"The sound recording is from a ceremony celebrating Shiva. Kailash is the home of Shiva, the god of destruction and renewal and considered the centre of the universe, and a stairway to heaven. "In my piece, I wanted to show the dual character of Shiva. I used the melodies of the sampled vocal calls and drums and echoed them on guitar and wind instruments. I used Ableton." Chennai temple sound...
6m Jun 06, 2025
6m
The future pasts of the Rotterdam Bridge
In this recording, the mechanical vibrations of Rotterdam’s iconic bridge,echoing the city’s maritime heritage and constant motion—blend with the bustling acoustics of the surrounding waterfront. The rhythmic pulse of passing ships and the distant hum of urban life intermingle with the low drone of the bridge’s support cables. This interplay of engineered structure and tidal flow offers a vibra...
19m Jun 06, 2025
19m
Rotterdam dystopia
"Jamie House's field recording, Rotterdam Bridge, reflects the impact of civilisation. There are endless noises of traffic in different tonalities and volumes. The sound of the bridge itself can be heard, as well as the sounds of nature — birds, water and the sea beneath the bridge. "The track "Rotterdam Dystopia" attempts to translate this complex system into music. Everything in this world i...
8m Jun 06, 2025
8m
Hannover relentless
The composition is a series of relentless sequences played over the field recording of the chanting. The sequences change over the course of the piece occasionally pausing (player injured?) before, like the chanting, continuing on its relentless journey. The percussion sequences are made up from samples of the crowd mangled and chopped. Hannover fans at Hannover 96 vs. Greuther Fuerth reimagi...
11m Jun 04, 2025
11m
The Hannover 96 ultras in full voice
At Hannover 96 vs. Greuther Fuerth, 11 May 2025 (final score: 1-1). Songs and chanting from the Hannover ultras throughout a significant chunk of the first half. Recorded at the Heinz von Heiden Arena in Hannover, Germany by Cities and Memory.
10m Jun 04, 2025
10m
Come of age
"I spend a lot of time walking in the Scottish hills and associate certain sounds with my experiences of the landscape. There is one specific sound which I feel is synonymous with the Highlands; the roar of rutting deer. This evokes strong memories of mornings spent sitting on loch side rocks of a small Island called Carna whilst looking over to the hills of the Morvern Peninsula. As the sun ri...
6m Jun 03, 2025
6m
Red deer rut, Orleans Forest
This recording captures the Red Deer Rut (Brame de Cerf) recorded in the heart of the Orleans Forest, the largest forest in France. This was the second year I recorded the deer rut at this location, and I had a good understanding of where the deer were active. For this recording I had set up my mics and was standing in complete darkness about 30 metres away from my equipment when a very large ...
10m Jun 03, 2025
10m
Walking under the Thames
A walk along the Greenwich foot tunnel right underneath the River Thames. We descend in the lift, hearing the announcements, and walk the length of the long concrete tunnel, hearing cyclists whizz past and catching snippets of conversation from passing pedestrians, before emerging at the exit at the other end. Recorded by Cities and Memory.
7m Jun 02, 2025
7m
Underground one
"Taking the underground announcements and creating the echoing effects that you often hear in the tunnels of the underground using dub techniques." Greenwich tunnel, London reimagined by Dubberrookie.
5m Jun 02, 2025
5m
Beaver splash and the crater lake band
In the summer of 2019, while sitting beside a small unnamed lake/pond, which friends and I called Crater Lake (because it looked like a crater), I was attempting to record loons in the late afternoon/early evening. Instead, a beaver swam around circling and splashing about near the nest of a pair of loons and their loonlets, messing with them far as I could tell. Thus, we get no loon sounds but...
2m May 28, 2025
2m
Two forests one museum
"We travel through many sonic landscapes. Lately, I’ve been flying back and forth from Massachusetts to Wisconsin to help my elderly parents. I selected this field recording from from the north woods of WI (a shared past) paired with my own similar recordings from the deep forest in MA/VT (a shared present), and a nearby pond at the Clark Art Institute. "In a sense this becomes an ambient trav...
9m May 28, 2025
9m
False awakening on a Mediterranean island
"This piece is a personal journey through the experiences of being born and growing up on an island with complex cultural, political, and historical roots. I felt strong connections and disconnections between where I grew up and where I lived afterwards, realising that identity and belonging can continue to evolve in subtle ways. Making every moment of interaction with the space and culture dyn...
10m May 28, 2025
10m
Medina workmen, hammering
This was recorded in Fez Medina in Morocco in 2008, I feel that this sound sums up not only the sense of place that one feels when inside the Medina, but it is seemingly a sound which defines temporal definition. One might hear this sound at any point in the last 2,000 years, a unique soundmark, which also personally resonates with my own memories of that time in my life, the time in Morocco a...
2m May 28, 2025
2m
Isha call to prayer in Nabeul
This recording captures the "Isha" call to prayer in the medina of Nabeul, Tunisia. "Isha" is the night prayer, and is announced after dark. Nabeul has two main mosques in the medina, plus other call to prayers can be heard in the distance. The presence of space is well recognisable due to the various distances of the different Isha calls. Recorded by Colin Hunter.
4m May 26, 2025
4m
By the Kukkia lake
The recording is made sitting on a pier by the Kukkia lake. One can hear waves under the pier and sounds coming across the lake but also insects. The contact microphone was placed on a floating metal plate on water and animals smaller than the eye could see were walking on it and made sounds. Recorded by Sirpa Jokinen.
5m May 26, 2025
5m
Knocking upon the unanswered door
"The piece was about seeking answers or at least a response and receiving silence. There is a resignation or even frustration that is represented with the ebbing and flowing of the instruments. "Harmonium, guitar, saxophone, and Mellotron alongside a field recording of a call to prayer. Every time a melody would emerge, I would intentionally pull back as if the melody was an answer to the plea...
12m May 26, 2025
12m
Blossoming wake
"Blossoming Wake was inspired by the field recording “By The Kukkia Lake” by Sirpa Jokinen. I was drawn to this field recording, which was made with a contact microphone, simply because I too have been using contact microphones to record outdoors. "My sound sources consist of contact microphones placed in dead hollow trees (Clark Reservation, Jamesville, NY) and on a creaking gate (Three Falls...
6m May 26, 2025
6m
Hydrophone recording of photosynthesis activity
Hydrophones at the bottom of a seasonal pond, in the ecologically rich Orchard St Marsh and Forest which is threatened by a developer who wants to build condos. Recorded by Matt Rogalsky.
4m May 18, 2025
4m
Wetland time
"Like so many other areas, time is running out for the wetlands at Orchard Street Marsh, Canada. Development decisions are under review. To reflect this in my piece, I have kept the sound of the hydrophone from the original recording as a time clock. "Accompanying, I have played layers of tenor recorder to represent the harmony of breath beneath the water. You will also hear the natural sounds...
2m May 18, 2025
2m
Electrical storm, Perth
This recording captures the sferic sounds from an electrical storm that occurred on 30.03.2025. The fizzes, crackles and zaps are from natural electrical phenomena, specifically broadband electromagnetic (EM) impulses caused by lightning discharges, that were detected via a homemade receiver I adapted from the Shortwave Collective’s Open Wave-Receiver. There are 3 recordings, the first half is...
5m May 17, 2025
5m
Roar of the wild, hum of the machine
In the Chocó jungle near Capurganá, Colombia, the natural soundscape is interrupted by the hum of generators. This recording captures the morning interplay between the haunting calls of howler monkeys and the mechanical drone of generators, creating a unique, chaotic harmony. Recorded by Rafael Diogo.
2m May 17, 2025
2m
Choleric cemetery
The selected recording was made at a roadside metal cross surrounded by a fence, marking the burial place of cholera epidemic victims. Behind the cross, a short distance from the road, the old burial plot has turned into a wild pond covered with duckweed. You can hear a flock of tits flying over the water surface, dragonflies interested in the microphones, and at one point, a raven appears on a...
12m May 17, 2025
12m
Distant proximity
"What grabbed me about the original rainforest recording from Colombia was hearing two opposites collide – the raw, wild roars of howler monkeys and a strange, mechanical buzz. The longer I listened, the more apparent it became that this recording, much like the composition it inspired, revolves fundamentally around the idea of distance. Different kinds of proximity mix here – the clash of natu...
5m May 17, 2025
5m
Skala
"My composition “Skała” (which means rock) is based on a field recording from the Skała Choleric Jewish Cemetery in Pabianice, Poland. One might think what sounds could there be in a cemetery? Silence? Wind? Birds? When I first heard this field recording what I heard were the sounds of history. A very deep complicated history. Skała dates back to the 13th century, and the first Jews appeared se...
5m May 17, 2025
5m
Static down under
"This composition is built entirely from a field recording of an electrical storm, whose raw energy and unpredictable structure inspired the form of the piece. I preserved the full length of the original audio, allowing its natural rise and fall to guide the listening experience. "Through heavy processing, the storm’s dynamics are brought into sharper focus — from piercing, harsh bursts of ene...
5m May 17, 2025
5m
Old town walkthrough
"I live on the Danish island of Bornholm, which is in the western end of the Baltic Sea. People here share a long, rich history with the Baltic countries, so choosing a field-recording from Tallinn felt natural. The dastardly Russian war feels really close here at the moment, and many of us here are more conscious about our cultural heritage and friendship across the sea now than we used to be....
5m May 17, 2025
5m
A medieval walkthrough in the rain
Walkthrough of Tallinn's medieval Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage site, on a morning with pouring rain. The streets are quite empty compared to the usual bustle, and we hear rain overflowing from drainpipes and gutters. The soundwalk ends at the famous, beautiful medieval alleyway St. Catherine's Passage. Recorded by Cities and Memory.
5m May 17, 2025
5m
Brindisi, al porto
"The port of Brindisi, end of the Appian Way at five in the afternoon, along the steps at the foot of the Roman columns. "Two stretches of still and silent sea, the engine of the boat that connects the shores of the port, the bar and its cheerful customers, birds singing in spring, a sudden plane that takes flight from the nearby airport. "A counterpoint with an insistent rhythm that melts an...
3m May 17, 2025
3m
Brindisi port
The port of Brindisi, end of the Appian Way at five in the afternoon, along the steps at the foot of the Roman columns. Two stretches of still and silent sea, the engine of the boat that connects the shores of the port, the bar and its cheerful customers, birds singing in spring, a sudden plane that takes flight from the nearby airport. Recorded by Giuseppe Schirone. IMAGE: Freccia53, CC BY-...
3m May 17, 2025
3m
Radio France Sonic Heritage feature, May 2025 (French language)
Feature on French national radio station Radio France on Sonic Heritage, broadcast on 9 May 2025 - French language only. "Une bibliothèque où sont rangés les environnements sonores de 270 sites du patrimoine mondial de l’UNESCO Et aussi des objets immatériels , tous réimaginés par des artistes du monde entier. « Accessible gratuitement cette collection permet d’écouter les sons emblématiques ...
2m May 15, 2025
2m
Ancient Waorani Icaro
This recording captures the early morning sounds of an ancient Waorani warrior in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Staying with him in his traditional palm-thatched longhouse, the tranquility of the environment was profound, with minimal external noise. Despite a language barrier—he spoke only Waorani (Sabela)—we connected through gestures and shared moments. At dawn, as we emerged from our hammocks, I a...
3m May 05, 2025
3m
Cantar
"The original field recording is awesome so I wanted to keep as much of that as I could in the new piece. The background rhythm is created from a small sample of the orginal with some echo added. I then added some background melodies and overlay the original recording." Ancient Waorani Icaro in Ecuador reimagined by Richard Watts.
4m May 05, 2025
4m
Jarv
"The original recording reminded me of woozy days listening to my children play when they were young. The music I've added intentionally loses focus / zones out and hopefully evokes a dreamlike state." Swimming in Mooste reimagined by Adam Leonard.
3m May 03, 2025
3m
Swimming in Mooste
It was beautiful summer day in 2013 August and I was staying at the artist residency in Mooste. I wanted to record some local sounds and went to the swimming place at the lake nearby.I asked the people who were picnicking by the lake if they thought it would be ok to record and they said yes. I sat on the pier. Recorded in Mooste, Estonia by Sirpa Jokinen.
3m May 03, 2025
3m
Crashing waves on Elgol beach
Waves crash onto a rocky beach in Elgol, with the close sound of water smacking against the hard rocks of the beach. One boat passes by into the harbour during the recording. Recorded on the Isle of Skye by Cities and Memory.
4m May 03, 2025
4m
The link of generations
"I recorded and reinterpreted this sound myself. Our common bond, apart from kinship, is playing the guitar." Cemetery in  Kemerovo, Russia reimagined by Pavel Lopatin.
2m May 03, 2025
2m
The sound of the cemetery in May
The sound is in good weather at the cemetery, near my great-grandmother's grave. It's a bright place, despite the sadness. On the recording, you can hear birds, rustling, and a few other people, perhaps you can hear the wind. Recorded in Kemerovo, Russia by Pavel Lopatin.
2m May 03, 2025
2m
Isle of Skye ( {AN} EeL Versio )
"A dense re-mix for the Cities and Memory project." Waves on Elgol beach reimagined by {AN} EeL.
4m May 03, 2025
4m
Paris jazz club
"The composition is made samples cut from the original field recording, with a little additions, looped and rearranged. It finishes with a nod to a Paris Jazz great." Jazz show at Le Baiser Salé, Paris reimagined by Simon Woods.
3m Apr 28, 2025
3m
Up close and personal in the Paris jazz scene
A lively jazz sextet led by Michel Zenino recorded at the tiny, intimate Paris jazz club Le Baiser Salé. Michel Zenion Zewoaï: Michel Zenino - contrebass Leo Montana - piano Christophe Monniot - alto saxophone Jeff Boudreaux - drums Manu Codija - guitar Adriano Tenorio - percussion Recorded on 14 December 2024 by Cities and Memory.
8m Apr 28, 2025
8m
Kjærlighetsstien, Utøya
The recording contains the ambience at "Kjærlighetsstien" at Utøya, close to Oslo, in the morning of 22nd July 2022. Utøya was the site where mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik massacered 69 young people on July 22nd, 2011, exactly 11 years earlier. At "Kjærlighetsstien" 11 youth tried to hide and play dead, but were discovered and shot by Breivik, only a single survivor. The sound of the wav...
10m Apr 28, 2025
10m
Pryvoz market
Recording at Privoz market in Odessa was a mix of emotions. The market buzzed with life, as vendors sold goods and people clung to everyday routines despite the ongoing conflict. There was a sense of resilience in the air, but beneath the bustle, a quiet sadness lingered. It reflected the uncertainty of the war between Ukraine and Russia, casting a shadow over the moments of normalcy that still...
4m Apr 28, 2025
4m
Global and local: market place in Odessa
"This is a lovely field recording of the everyday bustle and chatter. I used a recording of shortwave radio (Web SDR) and a clip from Hat Note (the sonification of real time changes to Wikipedia) to try and convey the global backdrop to the everyday business of the buyers and sellers at Privoz Market in Odessa." Privoz market, Odessa reimagined by Roland Pyle.
2m Apr 28, 2025
2m
Utøpya - Osøø
"Ramblings and sound variations with and in the source landscape... dreamy moments... lunar thoughts..." "Kjærlighetsstien" at Utøya reimagined by Philippe Neau.
4m Apr 28, 2025
4m
Sonic Heritage feature, CBC radio, 21 April 2025
A feature on CBC, Canadian national radio, broadcast on 21 April 2025 about the Sonic Heritage project. Features an interview with Cities and Memory founder Stuart Fowkes, and several field recordings from the project.
5m Apr 27, 2025
5m
BBC Radio 4 Today Programme: Sonic Heritage interview, 18 April 2025
Interview with Cities and Memory founder Stuart Fowkes on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme on 18 April 2025, introducing the Sonic Heritage project. Features sound clips from the Tower of London, the Sistine Chapel and Valparaiso, Chile.
4m Apr 18, 2025
4m